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Industrialists claim govt can end load shedding if it wants

President of Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FNCCI) Kush Kumar Joshi has claimed that the government can end load shedding within a month if it wants.

Addressing a programme organised by Pokhara Chamber of Commerce on Saturday, Joshi said the government can do so by establishing a thermal plant. He accused the government of not being serious about the thermal plant despite the possibility of producing power at a cost of Rs. 12 per unit.

FNCCI had suggested the government to establish a thermal plant in order to control huge losses beared by the industrial sector because of load shedding, about two months ago.

Presenting a working paper on 'Current Situation, Possibility and Alternative Means of Power Supply' at the programme, Managing Director of Hydro Solution and central committee member of FNCCI Gyanendra Lal Pradhan stated that productivity in industrial sector had reduced by Rs. 8 billion because of the power outage.

CA member Surya Bahdur KC said more than 100 MW hydro-power could be produced in Kaski district alone at half the cost spent by the government if there had been a conducive environment. "It is an irony that the government is warning private power producers of revoking their license if they don't start production within 6 months of taking the license," he added.

General Manager of Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) pointed out that the main reason for the current load shedding was the inability to produce 350 MW power as targetted by the 10th five year plan. nepalnews.com ta Feb 08 09